The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is NASA's next great observatory poised to lead humanity's next generation of astronomical discoveries. The Roman Space Telescope will research the mysteries of dark energy, search for exoplanets and investigate the physics of distant stars.

SpaceX will launch Roman on a Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Liftoff is scheduled for no earlier than 7:26 a.m. EDT (1126 GMT) on Sunday, Aug. 30. from Launch Complex-39A (LC-39A). Follow this blog for live updates as Roman is prepped for launch and delievered to space for a brand new mission of discovery.

Nancy G. Roman Space Telescope | Falcon Heavy

2026-08-24T19:36:17.008Z

SpaceX seals Roman inside Falcon Heavy fairing ahead of Aug. 30 launch

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is one step closer to launch. SpaceX has sealed the bus-sized observatory inside the payload fairing of its Falcon Heavy rocket, the company announced today (Aug. 24). Everything remains on course for Roman to lift off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida early on Sunday morning (Aug. 30).

After launch, it'll take Roman about 30 days to reach its distant destination — the sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2, which lies about 930,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Earth in the direction of Mars. After a roughly three-month checkout period, the scope will start observing the heavens — hunting for exoplanets and shedding light on dark matter and dark energy, among other tasks.

2026-08-24T11:45:15.308Z

NASA's next great space telescope is almost ready to leave Earth.

Roman has spent the last several weeks undergoing its final launch preparations at KSC. Technicians loaded the observatory with 290 gallons (1,100 liters) of hydrazine fuel on July 25, then attached it to its payload adapter in early August.

Roman was recently encapsulated inside Falcon Heavy's payload fairing, and underwent a full launch-day dress rehearsal on Aug. 20. NASA, SpaceX and Roman mission managers then completed the mission's Flight Readiness Review on Aug. 21, formally clearing the observatory to begin its final launch preparations.

Next, the telescope, encapsulated in its payload fairings, will be transported to SpaceX's hangar at LC-39A, where it will be attached to Falcon Heavy rocket before the it rolls out to the pad for launch later this week.